Cheers Gordon! It’s the wrong answer but Command & Conquer - Target goes through! ;)
The Raven and Return of the Obra Dinn main themes also go through!
Also, can someone explain to me why the poll percentages don’t always add up to 100?
It’s truncating, not rounding.
9 voters, so each vote is 11.1111111111111111111111111111%
5 votes rounds 55.55555555555555% is truncated to 55%
4 votes is 44.444444444444444444% is truncated to 44%
Thank you vinraith. It’s been annoying me a lot!
THE SEMI-FINALS!
Group 13
Featuring nominations from @Soren_Hoglund and @krayzkrok.
Dark Souls 2 - Majula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8ShsHeYkeI
Command & Conquer - Target
- Dark Souls 2 - Majula
- Command & Conquer - Target
0 voters
Group 14
Featuring nominations from @Jack_Howitzer and… @Jack_Howitzer. Sorry Jack! At least you’re guaranteed a place in the final! :-)
The Raven - The Raven Main Theme
Return of the Obra Dinn - Main Theme
- The Raven - The Raven Main Theme
- Return of the Obra Dinn - Main Theme
0 voters
Hard to vote against Obra Dinn, but while it’s great music for the game and memorable too, I don’t know that I think it’s particularly accomplished. Raven was such a surprise for me (had never even heard of the game!), I’m really pulling for it now to win it all.
Hey, I only just realized that NONE of the Disco Elysium tracks got through?? That’s a surprise.
I can’t decide!!
Bit of tournament trivia: in the last 'dome the highest scoring track, Tales from Off-Peak City - To All The Gamblers, was knocked out by a wildcard, Dusk. This time, the highest scoring track, Disco Elysium - Precinct 41 Major Crime Unit, was also knocked out by a wildcard… The Norwood Suite - Blue Moose Man. Revenge is sweet! Or should that be Suite? :-)
Gosh, I’m torn on a lot of these at this stage, as is right!
@Jack_Howitzer That got a legit laugh out loud from me!
I took no pleasure in voting and even delayed until 30 minutes before the polls closed because I struggled to decide! I think the mood and calmness of Majula swung it for me in the end, despite loving the industrial drive of Mechanical Man. Similarly I think the mood of The Raven theme, and particularly that gorgeous section around 1:10-1:40 edged me away from Obra Dinn.
Anyway! Dark Souls 2 - Majula and Return of the Obra Dinn - Main Theme go through to the final.
Final
Dark Souls 2 - Majula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8ShsHeYkeI
Return of the Obra Dinn - Main Theme
- Dark Souls 2 - Majula
- Return of the Obra Dinn - Main Theme
0 voters
Battle for Bronze
Command & Conquer - Target
The Raven - The Raven Main Theme
- Command & Conquer - Target
- The Raven - The Raven Main Theme
0 voters
I’ve been trying REALLY hard to be objective about the Obra Dinn music, since I love the game itself so much. It’s extra hard when its competition is so minimalist. BUT BEAUTIFUL. Ooof–tough matchup!
I absolutely don’t want to “yuck anyone’s yum” but I’ll confess that I’m a little baffled by Majula’s popularity here. Does this require the context of having played the game? Because to my (utterly untrained) ear, there’s virtually nothing there - just some sparse tones. It’s not unpleasant or anything, but I don’t think I’d even notice it if I was playing the game.
Take this as me trying to appreciate it (and by extension other music as well) that much better - what’s so awesome that I’m missing?
I think at least partly it’s one of those pieces that’s more about atmosphere than about melody or motion. I haven’t played much Dark Souls, but there’s a malevolent but also very mournful tone to the games, from what I understand. So Majula might be particularly suited to the game it’s in. If there’s a specific context to it in the game (a location or character it’s associated with) I don’t know what it is.
Funny, I felt the same way about Obra Dinn. Not as harsh - it’s fine - but I didn’t really get the love.
Also remember a tune doesn’t have to be awesome to win the 'Dome! It just has to survive each round.
There’s a very specific context to Majula, yes. Majula is the ruined seaside village that serves as your central hub for the game - it’s where you go to level up, it’s where a large part of the NPC’s that you encounter during the game gather. Aside from some very specific corners (those bastard pigs), it’s your safe haven.
I actually agree with you here that while it’s a pleasant enough tune it wouldn’t be among my top picks, but there it’s easier for me to simply ascribe it to different tastes. I’m sincerely not trying to be harsh or dismissive of anyone else’s taste in music regarding Majula, all of that stuff is hugely individual, I just honestly don’t hear much there and am genuinely curious what I’m missing.
I can appreciate that - I guess I personally just don’t get much of a mood from it. But that’s still helpful, because individual reactions are just that, and if people are getting a strong sense of mood/place I can see why it would be well liked.
So if you had played the game you’d also be hearing this a lot, and strongly associating it with maybe safety and relief but also perhaps a sense of sadness and loss. See, that I get, thank you.
Edit: And yeah, listening to it again with that context in mind I can see how the sparseness might make a real impression. Thanks again everyone!
I admit I had a tough time voting for Majula because it was highly based on context. You’re right that in itself, it is a fine bit of music, but not a masterpiece, and I probably would not have rated it so highly if not for its context… however, I had a really difficult time separating it from the context. As @Soren_Hoglund pointed out, Majula is the “safe haven” in Dark Souls 2, and hearing that music when you go there for whatever reason instantly instills a sense of calm and safety, compared to the tension and stress of the rest of the game.
That said, I loved the Obra Dinn track (and have never played the game) but one thing that bothered me about the track was how the entire middle bit of the song sounded a bit… I don’t know how to describe it… disjointed? I love songs that change throughout, but it felt out of place in this track. It’s still a great song, but that’s why I tended to pick other tracks over it when it came down to it.
Pretty sure the Obra Dinn track is a medley or overture composed of pieces and variations of the other tracks in the game. If that’s right, I think that’s why it changes themes so quickly.
Well, I just voted, late, and… d’oh! I done tied the results.
For what it’s worth I’ve never played Dark Souls 2. I finished Demon’s Souls on PS3, and got very far with Dark Souls before being ‘Souls-ed’ out. That said, one of my lowest scoring nominations in the thunderdome was Maiden in Black from Demon’s Souls. It’s very slow and spacious and… empty sounding? It breathes steadily. In, then out. It suits the nexus, a safe haven from the horrors of the game, but there’s an uneasy sadness to it, which is also perfect. It’s difficult for me to separate the context from the piece but I adore it. Anyway, to see a similar piece from Dark Souls 2 doing so well now is very weird to me! Is it because more people are familiar with the music and its place in the game or is it just a more enjoyable piece to more people? I don’t know but I really like Majula because it has that same kind of restraint and delicate, mournful sound to it. It wasn’t an easy choice though!
Yeah absolutely this, and I’m really glad you piped up because the thunderdome is a lot quieter otherwise! I know it can be disappointing when something you love doesn’t go down so well but at the same time, it’s just great when surprises come along so you win some and lose some.
Heresy! Heresy Hansey! :-D
I’ve got to dash and make pizza but I will call in the tie-breakers later!
Honestly, it’s just all kinds of fascinating what does well and what doesn’t. If you’d have asked me which of my entries was likely to make it to the quarter finals, Marisa would have been last on the list. It’s a piece I love, but of those I put up it’s the one I least expected other folks to connect with. Clearly I know nothing at all!
Haha! Just to be clear, I say again that I love the song! It’s just that when it came down to deciding between another song and that one, it was the shift in tone (probably the wrong word to use - I’m not good at describing music, I just know what I like, haha) midway through that made me feel it wasn’t quite as strong as its contenders.